What Goes Bump in the Night
by Morbidly Romantic
Summary: (Gayperion Rhys/Vaughn Demon!AU) What happens when you accidentally summon an incubus? Can Rhys the Incubus help Vaughn achieve his dream, or will his presence only make things worse?


Vaughn felt like his life was a pitiful rut. He did not fit in with the employees of Hyperion. There was a constant threat of being fired, all while needing to watch his back from his co-workers who were waiting to undermine every step he took. He knew Hyperion was a cutthroat business, but he never expected it to be so dangerous in the financing department. He thought his fellow accountants would be more like him, but they were out to make themselves better and toss aside anyone who got in their way. It made him feel absolutely miserable.

He only had one friend in this world and sometimes he doubted even her genuineness. Yvette was kind, funny, and friendly, but also a huge lunch leech. She spent every lunch hour with Vaughn, and every time she expected him to pay for her lunch. When Vaughn opted for bringing a lunch from home, he could see the disgust in her face when he told her he would not be buying for her that day. She inexplicably needed to work through her break that day. Occasionally they did spend time together after hours. They would go out to the bar or return to his apartment for Hypflix-and-chill. But it was all on his dollar. Yvette rarely paid for a thing. The underpaid accountant found that his budget became tighter and tighter with each passing month while in Yvette's company.

What was his life amounting to anymore? He woke up every day, following the same routine, undertaking the same abuse, before finally returning to bed only to do it all over the next day. It was starting to get agonizing just waking up in the morning. He just wanted to go to bed and never wake up. What was the point? Every day was the same shit and nothing good ever happened to him. He desperately wanted change, but he had no idea how to go about it. He was isolated on a space station hovering between a killer planet and its equally as deadly moon. Why did he agree to leave his terra to work on this isolated hell hole? But this was his home now, as much as it killed him.

He just wanted something different to happen. He wanted something exciting, but not in a life-threatening adventure kind of way. He wanted a good surprise, something that was positive to him with no sick, demented twist. Perhaps someone to share that adventure with. Maybe there was someone he could genuinely trust, who genuinely cared about him. But that was a lot to ask for.

Companionship aside, there was not exactly much safe adventure to be had on Helios though. The safest adventure to find were only to be had in books. That is what brought him to the Helios Public Library. He spent a lot of his free time here. After all, it was one of few things he could enjoy that did not cost him an arm and a leg. The library had become a second home to him. He knew his way around it better than his own office sector. The Dewey Decimal System was second nature to him by now, and he found himself returning books to their proper place if he found them placed incorrectly on the shelves or abandoned on one of the many reading tables.

The librarians were fond of his company, but often scolded him for doing their job. Most would not mind, but Hyperion was starting to get stingy with work ethic and would happily fire the elderly folk working through their retirement at the library. It was not as if Hyperion offered a fantastic pension plan. Apparently they did not expect you to live long enough to need it, considering the cutthroat environment. Vaughn would always apologize, but that would never stop him. He considered volunteering at the library to help with the organization and the computers but he would rather spend his free time as he wished rather than having another obligation. After all, if work called him in for a late night, he did not want to disappoint Mrs. Thompson by having to cancel coming in to help that day.

The library had high ceilings and rows upon rows of tall bookshelves. Despite the modern aesthetic of the space station, the library held elegance to it that was a throwback to ancient Earthen culture; Victorian England. Elegant black-on-gold patterned wallpaper rose high up to the mosaic painting on the ceiling, inspired by ancient Renaissance art. It depicted even more ancient icons. gods and mythical creatures, within beautiful gardens. One could stare at the ceiling for hours and still miss many details. When Vaughn was bored, he often found his neck craning back to entertain himself with finding new little pictures within the giant artwork.

Vaughn gave a quiet greeting to the old women at the reception desk as he passed through the security scanners at the library. The old women did not look up at him, only waved at him passively as he walked by. The library was rather barren. Only co-op students and interns spent time studying here. Rarely you would see a salary worker spending their free time in the library. Why the corporation would waste finances on maintaining this massive collection of literature, he had no idea, but he was thankful for it nonetheless. It was only here and at his small little apartment that he felt safe.

He made his rounds through the bookshelves, grabbing abandoned books from the tables and returning them to their proper place. It seemed as though the fellow library-goers were getting lazier with returning books to where they found them or returning them to their proper place. Many of the higher ups would claim they were "generating jobs for the lower class" by not picking up after themselves. In reality, they were just lazy,arrogant assholes. God Almighty, did Vaughn ever want to bring them down. But he had no means of doing so. So, he would just complain to himself and to Yvette whenever the feelings of hate and loathing boiled over.

Vaughn's mind began to wander and his body moved on auto-pilot as he organized the books. He thought about what he would do if he ever got into a greater position of power. He would turn this organization around. He would teach the corporate jackasses humility and respect. No more would they stick their noses up at those _lower on the ladder_. No more would they harass the custodial department with their stupid parties and general slobbish behaviour. No more cutthroat attitude. No more constantly threatening to murder each other like animals. Hyperion employees thought themselves so much better than the violent savages of Pandora, but Vaughn could barely tell the difference half the time, especially when they brought up Pandoran midget psychos for "chicken fights." Vaughn felt his stomach churn just thinking about the last one of those he had accidentally stumbled across. He never wanted to see something that horrible ever again.

A grunt escaped him as his side dug into the edge of a dusty, darkwood table. He blinked back into reality. Where had he wandered to? This part of the library did not seem familiar. It was enclosed against the wall in some nook behind one of the bookshelves. There ceiling was lower and a pale light emitted from a dimming desk lamp that sat upon the table he had just bumped into. The simple writing desk only had one chair that had a torn-up velvet cushion that he assumed was once red, but had faded into a pale greyish pink. He assumed he had stumbled upon a semi-private study area. But with the walls so tight around and only one narrow passage leading the way out, he would not understand why anyone would want to study here. No wonder it was practically abandoned.

On the centre of the desk was a leather-bound book with a brass deer head pressed flat in the centre. A leather cord hung from between the worn, yellowing pages. Vaughn had never seen anything quite like it. It had to be an antique. His heart thudded against his chest. Should he even touch it? What if he broke it? He looked quickly over his shoulder towards the narrow entrance to the nook. No one was there. He inhaled deeply through his nose and looked back at the antique book. He slowly reached out his left hand and gently wiped the dust from the brass deer head. He leaned in closer to see if there was something etched into the metal, but there was nothing. He leaned over to look at the spine of the book to see if the title was there. Blank. Well, that only left one last place to check.

Vaughn held his breath, afraid even breathing on it would harm the book in some way. He lightly touched the edge of the leather cover. He bit his bottom lip, grimacing. He slowly tipped the cover open. The first page was blank, except for a black ink blot on the bottom right-hand corner. He exhaled slowly. Well, that was disappointing. Curiosity nibbled at his nerves. He wanted to find out more about this book. He knew he should just close it and tell the librarians about it so they could take care of it, but he could not help himself. He began to flip through the brittle pages. The edges were yellowed, stiff, and flaking with their age. Crumbs of paper occasionally fell from pages as they were moved, but no damage serious enough to deter Vaughn from continuing.

The book was filled with odd images and old text that looked handwritten. How old was this book? Possibly thousands, from what he could tell at least. There were pictures of monsters, animals, and humans, and sometimes weird mixtures of both. There were odd letters he could not begin to understand. They did not even seem like ancient Latin. They looked far older, far more important. His eyes eagerly scanned the pages as he flipped through. He did not understand any of it, and yet he knew he wanted to see more.

He hissed and pulled his hand back from the book quickly like the pages and burned him. He held his hand to his chest and stared down at the book with wide eyes. What had he found? Why did he suddenly feel so uncomfortable? He felt like ice was spreading from his hand to all the veins through his arm and chest. He slowly backed away from the book. His brows furrowed and his lips curved down into a frown. He had no idea why, but all he wanted to do was get away from this place as quickly as he could.

So he did so. He rushed through the library as subtly as possible. He did not say anything to anyone. He only clutched the strap of his satchel tighter over his shoulder. He hurried through the library doors without so much as a wave towards the ladies at the reception table. They did not seem to care about him anyway. No one cared. He was as good as invisible.

The sense of relief that washed over him when he made it to his apartment was immense. He sighed softly in relief and kicked off his shoes. He wandered into the small, open kitchen that connected with the even smaller living room. This place was not much, but it was home. He unbuttoned his grey Hyperion-branded vest and tossed it on the back of the nearby stool. He lifted his satchel up and dropped it on the countertop. It made a loud thud.

He did not have anything heavy in there, only his Echo device. He pulled apart the straps of the bag and opened it up. Reaching inside, his fingers brushed against something thick and hard. He hesitated a split second before pulling the foreign object out.

He yelped and threw the familiar leather book on the counter. He backed away from it and held his hands to his chest. What was that doing there? He was certain he left it where he found it in the library. Did he steal from the library? Oh God, did he steal from the library?! Panic gripped at his heart and throat, making him feel like he was being choked. If it was discovered he stole something from the company, there was no way he was going to survive, even if it was an accident.

But it did not look like a regular library book. He hesitantly approached the counter. He opened the cover and checked the innerside for the library stamp. It was blank. He checked the back cover. Also blank. This was not a library book. Perhaps someone had been studying and forgot it? But the symbols did not look like they were in any notable language. And how the hell had it ended up in his bag in the first place?

Vaughn stared down at the book. He bit his bottom lip hesitantly. He might as well give it another look since it was here. What was the harm? Someone was dumb enough to leave it in the library and it had somehow made its way here. Maybe it was some weird destiny thing. He began to flip through the pages once more. The symbols were just as foreign as before. But as each page turned, the symbols became more and more recognizable. Maybe it was just because they were repeating. He turned each page slower, soaking in every picture and strange letter.

He turned one last page. The words became oddly clear to him. He pursed his lips thoughtfully.

"To summon the wish-granter. Your deepest desire come true." He murmured the words. He ran his hand lightly over the brittle page. There was a picture of a man looking up at a winged, horned person floating before him. "Clear your mind and read this incantation."

Vaughn paused. His deepest wish? Well, his deepest wish was to rise up the ranks of Hyperion and change the way people treated him and behaved. He was not some nerd to be pushed around. He was not going to be disrespected anymore! Could this _wish-granter_ actually do this? Change his life around? It sounded so stupid, like some witchy magic. Come to think of it, incantations were often used in magic. Like it could actually happen. But that did not stop the curiosity from biting at the back of his mind. There was no harm in trying, right?

He picked up the book from the counter and stepped away from it. His eyes scanned over the incantation. He felt he could read it, but he was not sure what it meant. Well, so long as he could speak it, it did not really matter.

He cleared his throat. He spoke the words, though he had no idea how. His eyes were focused on the strange markings on the aged paper. Symbols and pictures floated from the page. As he read, a light began to surround him. He felt a heat building up in his chest, like his heart was burning a hole through his flesh. He wanted to stop, he wanted to look around, but he could not take his eyes from the words, he could not keep himself from speaking the incantation. The words burned his lips as he spoke them. The light around him became more intense. Only one last word remained.

" _Arcendo."_

The light filled the room. Vaughn gasped and shielded his eyes with the tome. He felt the air rushing around him, like a heatless explosion. It whipped through his hair and ruffled his clothes. The light and wind faded in an instant. Everything fell silent. He thought his heart had stopped beating.

There was nothing. The light and wind faded, sound returning to his ears, and there was absolutely nothing. Vaughn looked around hesitantly. He slowly lowered the book and placed it back on the counter. Well, that was weird and underwhelming. That was more than enough excitement (or lack thereof) for one night, Vaughn decided. He scratched the back of his head and glanced around the room one last time before sighing in defeat. So much for this wish-granter.

Vaughn was weirdly on edge for the rest of the evening. He made himself dinner and watched a bit of television. But nothing seemed good enough of a distraction. He felt an itch at the back of his mind. The incantation from the tome haunted him. What had that light and wind been about? Was it all in his head? It had to have been. Nothing else had moved. But how was he even able to read it? There were so many questions that he could not answer and it exhausted him. Bed seemed like the best option for now.

He retired to the single bedroom of the apartment. It was a small room with a queen-sized bed covered in a green and black duvet, a metal nightstand, a small bookshelf, and a dresser. It was not much, but it was all he needed. He collapsed on the soft covers of his bed with a muffled grunt. He slipped his glasses off and placed them neatly on the bedside table beside the digital alarm clock. He slipped under the covers, rolled over onto his side, and snuggled into the lonely warmth. A gentle yawn escaped him. His eyes fell closed and he awaited the embrace of sleep.

He experienced a different embrace. He felt something slip under his side and over the other. Something warm and firm pressed against his back, and another warmth against his neck. Vaughn's body was rigid. Slowly, he turned his head. Mismatched eyes met his.

A shriek erupted from his lungs. His arm swung back and knocked hard into the intruder. The stranger gave a grunt and rolled off the other side of the bed. Vaughn quickly lept to his feet. His hand blindly groped the nightstand for his glasses. He pushed them onto his face with violently trembling hands. He knew he should say something, do something, but nothing came to mind but a gaping mouth.

"Holy shit, what the fuck, man?" A masculine voice groaned from the far side of the bed.

The stranger slowly rose to his feet. He was tall and thin. His skin was pale, but his chest was decorated with strange blue tattoos like sunbeams. The first thing Vaughn noticed was the man was naked. The second thing he noticed was the man was oddly handsome. He remembered the first thing he noticed, but before he could comment on that, he noticed the third, fourth, and fifth thing; the man's left arm that was scaly like a lizard with cracks that faintly glowed blue, his horns that curved up from his temples, and the wiry tail that flickered behind him.

Vaughn's jaw stayed drop and his eyes remained wide open in horror. What the hell was that thing?! And what the hell was it doing in his bedroom?!

"You've got such a big bed, I figured you'd expect company." The creature mused with an awkward smile. He stepped up onto the bed and strode across it. "Man, you are a lot stronger than I thought you were." He grimaced. "That really freaking hurt." He stepped down from the bed, but paused in his approach.

"Wh-what the hell are you?!" Vaughn finally stammered out, back pressed hard against the far wall. He could not take his eyes off of the creature's. The thing possessed one dark brown eye and another shockingly blue eye. They were mesmerizing, and would be rather pretty, if it were not for the reptilian slits that replaced his pupils.

The creature looked offended. He frowned deeply and broke eye contact. He rubbed the back of his head with a scaly, clawed hand.

"Uh, wow, okay… I was expecting a bit more welcome." He muttered. He turned his head to meet Vaughn's gaze once more. "I'm Rhys. The incubus you summoned."

Vaughn's heart sank into his stomach.

"I summoned what?"


End file.
